Snow Witch'S Journey
The futile exercise

Snow swirled down from the gray sky that looked sad. There were small white granules on my hair that were also silvery white. My finger could still count the snowflakes that descended from that pale sky. The sky that has never changed since the creation of the world. That's what my mom said. My mother is currently releasing a chunk of ice stone towards me with her magic. I should avoid it if I don't want to feel pain.

It's been 2 hours since the training started and I still haven't been able to turn things around. No, this is not a drill. It's oppression. Wh why? Because I have to use a magic wand that has a limit. If only I had been allowed to not use the cane, I was sure, I would have gone all out on a rampage. Without reading the book of destiny though, in its current state, I already knew that the edges would definitely lose.

The fist-sized chunk of ice continued to rain down on me without giving me time to breath. Maybe you don't remember that I'm a human being? My physique has its limits, it doesn't seem like it's half the most noble and powerful Ardus-ras in the Aima-world.

“Shortly!” my screams. I was already panting to avoid all the incoming attacks. A puff of smoke pours out from my mouth that opens shut.

“In the battle there is no time to rest!” reply my mother lightly.

What kind of battle should I face? I'm comfortable living at the end of this world. Although the cold always stabs, but with my mother always keeps me warm.

One of the chunks of ice missed its path of attack and crashed into a steep cliff wall. The cliff loomed high over us, like a mountain jutting out into the sea.  I also placed my magic wand right above my head. A transparent circle was miraculously created and held back the cliff fragment.

It's out of bounds. I could not have survived just because of this futile practice.

“I surrender!” my yelling. “The training is done here only.”

The waves from the Frozen Sea broke the ice sheet and lifted up in the air like giant bubbles. What I saw was like a cold water meteor hurtling towards me. Looks like mom didn't hear me. “Training will be completed if your attack hits me,” my mother said.

Another reason that proves that I will definitely lose, is because my mother is the greatest witch I have ever met. Indeed, I have never seen anyone other than my mother, but from her life story that is always told to me before going to sleep and her magic ability that can manipulate nature on a crazy scale, but from her life, I firmly believe that my mother is the strongest witch in the world.

And of course, I am the second strongest magician after my mother!

That giant bubble I can turn into beautiful but painful pieces of pure snow. Crystal-clear and as beautiful as a butterfly. I made that butterfly snowflake and flew it towards my mother. The outcome? Of course it was futile.

The last reason I've made up this defeat is that no one can touch my mother. Everything in this world can't touch it. Lightning doesn't make my mother tremble, the storm won't make my mother crash, the waves won't be able to drag my mother. Time would only flow through her body as if mother was not a figure walking in the real world. I doubt that death will pick him up.

It's unbelievable. My mother who is now in front of me has no real form. He's like a snow ghost. Samar in a storm, with an instant to make you fascinated and then just disappear.

The snowflakes I made with all my heart and energy, flew right through my mother's body just like that. A futile attack. I'm exhausted now. Ever since this training began, I didn't have the slightest chance. Compared to my mother, my existence was just snowflakes in a violent storm.

I exhaled as chunks of ice flew into my face. Next is clear. I lost .. and fainted. I really want it to feel like winning. For 17 years I lived, all I ever felt was a lump of ice sweeping me a little rough.

I woke up with pain in my head. The pain I feel every day. The unforgiving woman smiled as I massaged my red forehead. His smile was as gentle as the ocean. Sitting by the shore in the shadow of the cliff, gazing into the endless horizon ahead. I followed.

“Am I now stronger?” I'm trying to break the waves and ice.

“Mother never thought you were weak, Niva,” her words were so gentle and always kept me calm. I like the soft side of the mother, not the side that likes to make her daughter close to death. “Since long ago, you've been a strong girl.”

That's a sad story. I mean, when I was first found. Yep. I'm not mom's real daughter. I was a baby born of ice. That's reality. My mother found me in a snowy field surrounded by a dense pine forest. The ice crystals caught the attention of the mother who accidentally found them. I was inside, frozen like a preserved meat.

With his magic, he melted the ice. I was surprised to not believe that I was alive and breathing after being freed from the cold confinement. Wept in a blanket in the middle of the snow. Alone and cold. My soft body even slowly turned pale. Snow-pale. My whining sound was muffled by the piercing wind. It seems that even wild animals don't care about my crying, nor do my real parents somehow put me on ice. My early life started with misfortune.

Only that woman cares about me with the warmth of her blanket. Even though she knew she couldn't touch me, she took care of me until I became a beautiful girl. She is my real mother.

“It takes 2000 years for you to beat me.” A very confident mother.

2000 Years is a long time for me who is a temporary being in a temporary world. My mother told me that her age did not reach that number. Half-Man-Ardus blood does not make him long-lived, but it is a magical object called the Asua Gem where he gets 800 years old.

Mom said it was on her wand, but she never used her wand at all. So, I have until now never witnessed firsthand the greatness of a magic gem that is said to create a life.

We fell silent once more in front of the increasingly calm waves, while the clouds chose to sail around the world. I glanced at the mother sitting next to me, staring at the point of the unattainable sea. In fact, the sun never visited even at the End of the Frozen Line, but his white face was so bright that it dazzled my eyes. I wish I could rest my head on her shoulders and feel her warm embrace. Maybe it's a feeling I'll never be able to feel in my entire life.

I wonder what he saw. Although I've narrowed it down, I can't see anything there. “Mother see what?” my many.

“End of the world, Niva my dear.” The answer made me think.

“Is not the house we live in already at the end of the world?”

He just smiled at my words. If there really was an end to the world out there, from the look in her eyes, I could tell that mom wanted to go to that place. Like I've always dreamed of the outside world. But, for the sake of me not even being able to use this magic broom, mother had to abandon her dream. He must have been disappointed like I was disappointed in myself.

Mom threw the beach rocks at me. Caught her. “Last exercise, Niva.” She also took another stone for him. A cylindrical magic ray emerged from his index finger and carved a letter on the stone. A is for Aena. “If you could throw that stone to the end of the world. I will inaugurate you as a true witch and give you everything a witch needs.”

“Really!?” My eyes sparkle with joy. I've been waiting for years to get my dream cape and the pretty hat that adorns my head. If you inaugurate me as a true witch, you acknowledge my abilities and eventually let me travel the world.

“But .. if you lose, you must obey all mother's requests for good. And one more thing..” Mother was silent for a moment, making me die curious. “...you can use your hand.”

The corner of my lips is rising. Throwing stones to the end of the world? With both hands, it will be easier. I just had to throw it as far away as possible without causing a splash of water.

I with the same magic carved the surface of my stone to form the letter N for Nivalis, my name. Then I got up and put the stone forward between my open palms. I focused all my energy on the stone in my palm. The white light slowly gathered like bees swarming over honey. I could feel the concentration of magic energy flowing from my heart and then propagating through my arms until it reached the palm. Little by little it is full and fuller. Blood's heating.

Exhales. Instantly my stone was ejected at a high speed, creating a strong wind that would lift my back hair. Splitting wind, sea and crashing waves. The further it becomes smaller than a dot, then disappears in the eye. I think that's enough to get to the end of the world. I shake my waist with confidence.

Mother got up after witnessing my carefree expression. From her sly smile, I knew that mother wanted to destroy my happiness like ice being hit by a wave.

He then released the same magic as me, but with a faster process without any pause like me. In the blink of an eye, the stone instantly vanished in the distance. I'm not surprised.

My shoulders drooped realizing my defeat. Again. “Alright, I'll obey-”

“Congratulations. You won, Niva.”

This time I was surprised.

It is true that my stone is lost in vision, but it could have been stuck in the ocean even further before the eyes. I am not as fast and strong as my mother in throwing stones. “Is Mom pranking me? How did you know my stone landed where we didn't know it? How did you know your rock fell in the sea?”

“Who said Mother's stone didn't reach the end of the world? Mom won too. We both won!” Mom laughed lightly. His laughter really pisses me off. But I better take it. We both won.